( Observer Network News) After the Qatar World Cup final (December 18), Turkish Internet celebrity " Salt Brother " was accused of illegally entering the stadium and forcibly taking photos with the champion Argentine team player Messi and others, and touching the championship trophy, which attracted many netizens to criticize.
Comprehensive reports from the US media Fox News, the British media "Mirror" and other reports on the 22nd, FIFA , which had been silent for several days amid doubts, finally spoke out. On the same day, it was confirmed that "Brother Salt" was not authorized for the relevant words and deeds on the court, and that he violated the regulations that only championship teams and heads of state are eligible to touch the World Cup trophy. FIFA has launched an internal investigation on the matter.
Among them, FIFA President Infantino has attracted attention due to his close relationship with "Brother Salt". "Daily Mail " said that "Brother Salt" was able to enter the game with a VVIP pass given by Infantino. Sky News noticed that Infantino did not respond to this, but on the evening of the 22nd, he unfollowed "Brother Salt" on his Instagram account.
In addition, US Open Cup 1 also made a special statement on the official Twitter on the 21st, banning "Brother Salt" from watching the 2023 Open Cup finals.
"Brother Salt", whose real name is Nusret Gokce, is a Turkish chef and restaurant owner who runs a number of chain steakhouses in London and other places. Due to her unique salt-sprinkling gesture, Nusrat has become popular around the world, and her exaggerated gesture has been made into various emoticons by netizens.
During the World Cup in Qatar , this internet celebrity made a big splash on social media. Many star players visited his restaurant in Doha .
The Brazilian team was eliminated by Croatia after eating the gold foil steak of "Brother Salt", and stopped in the top 8.
However, after the World Cup finals, the crazy "Brother Salt" overturned.
After the Argentina team won the championship, he was found to have entered the stadium without authorization and forcibly took photos with Messi, Di Maria, Lisandro and others. He also held the Hercules Cup in a very invisible way and kissed and touched them. He even held other people's championship medals in his mouth, not treating himself as an outsider at all.
"Brother Salt" forced Messi to take a photo
"Brother Salt"'s behavior attracted criticism online, but FIFA remained silent afterwards and did not respond until the 22nd that it was launching an internal investigation into the matter.
A FIFA spokesperson confirmed that according to relevant regulations, only heads of state and members of the team that won the World Cup final are eligible to touch the Hercules Cup. Although "Brother Salt" had his ID hanging around his neck at the time, his entry into the stadium was unauthorized and this practice was obviously illegal.
They will investigate the method and reason why the Internet celebrity entered the stadium and take appropriate internal actions. "Brother Salt" may be banned from watching FIFA events, and staff who let irrelevant people into the stadium at will will also be punished.
"Daily Mail" mentioned that "Brother Salt" has no connection or commercial cooperation with football, participating teams or the event itself. The reason why he was able to enter the Lusail Stadium to watch the game that day was because FIFA President Infantino provided him with a VVIP pass.
British media reported that "Brother Salt" and Infantino are good friends. During the World Cup, Infantino visited "Brother Salt's" steak restaurant in Qatar and praised that "football unites the world, and Nusret (restaurant) also unites the world."
A video of the two of them released in January last year was also picked up by netizens: "Salt Brother" personally cut steaks to entertain Infantino, and Infantino also imitated the other party's signature salting action. He said, "Nusret is the best. I spent an unforgettable night in Dubai and I will patronize this restaurant again."
Many fans blamed Infantino for the Argentine players being entangled by unrelated persons, saying that it was precisely because he had publicly stood up for "Brother Salt" that the latter violated the rules so brazenly.
Former Crystal Palace club chairman Simon Jordan angrily criticized "Brother Salt" for receiving special preferential treatment from FIFA in an interview with talkSPORT. "This is ridiculous and violates the usual regulations. This is an extremely unprofessional situation. He ("Brother Salt") should not be there (the stadium)."
As of now, Infantino has not responded to this matter. Sky News noticed that around 6 pm on the 22nd, "Brother Salt" was still on the list of 303 people following Infantino's Instagram account. When he checked more than an hour later, "Brother Salt" was no longer in the list of followers.
Infantino dined at "Brother Salt"'s restaurant, and the two filmed a video
As the controversy continued, on the 21st, the official Twitter account of the Major League Soccer Open Cup took the lead and issued a "ban" on "Brother Salt" in advance, announcing that he would be banned from watching the 2023 US Open Cup finals due to his inappropriate behavior in the World Cup.
"Daily Mail" stated that this tweet received more than 130,000 likes within 36 hours of being posted. Fans in the comment area were joking. The official Twitter account of Chicago Fire Football Club also replied with "lol" (laughing very loudly).
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